TOBY the LINEMAN
True-ish tales from the top of the pole. A cartoon miniseries about life lessons from the line — fun, and funnier.
The Episodes
A hand-drawn miniseries, told one true-ish story at a time. Every episode really happened to a real lineman — more or less. And every episode hides one small spider. (Dad's favorite superhero. Long story. He's in there.)
SQUOZED!
Big Pete squeezes some clamps and invents a word. The English language never recovers.
now showing ↓The Squirrel Situation
A squirrel makes one bad decision. An entire neighborhood pays the price.
coming soonIt's Not a Jump Rope
There's a line down on Maple Street, and Toby has several opinions about it.
coming soonTwo Coffees, No Ladder
The crew faces its most dangerous enemy yet: Monday.
coming soonBig Pete Invents Another Word
He's done it again, folks. Nobody can stop him. Nobody wants to.
coming soonHurricane Doris Changes Her Mind
Florida weather. You know how it is.
coming soonFuture titles pending the official discovery files from Todd.
The stories are real. The names have been changed to protect Big Pete.
Episode One: SQUOZED!
The read-along storyboard edition. Turn the pages with the arrows, your keyboard, or a swipe — and read it out loud. It's better out loud.
Based on a true story. The word is real. The word is forever.
cover · read it here, or watch it in 1969
For my dad, Jack — who kept the lights on for everybody else,
and the laughs on for us. This was your dream.
Consider it squozed.
— Love, Todd
the dedication
This is Toby. Toby is a lineman.
When the lights go out — Toby goes up.
page 1
Every morning, Toby checks his gloves, his boots, his belt, and his lid.
"Check it once, check it twice. That's the lineman way."
(Tittlepup gets checked too.)
page 2
Last night, a great big wind huffed through town and knocked the power out on Maple Street.
No lights. No toast. NO CARTOONS.
This was a job for Toby's crew.
page 3
Big Pete drove the truck. Toby rode the bucket.
Tittlepup supervised. (Somebody has to.)
page 4
Way up top, the wires needed new clamps — and clamps need a good, strong squeeze.
Toby grabbed his crimper. He loves this part.
page 5
Down below, Big Pete cupped his hands and hollered up:
"TOBY! Make sure those clamps are good and SQUOZED!"
page 6
Toby stopped. The birds stopped. Even the wind stopped.
"…Squozed?" said Toby.
page 7
"SQUOZED!" Toby laughed so hard his hard hat wiggled. Big Pete laughed loudest of all.
"Best word I ever invented," said Big Pete.
Somewhere, a bird fell off a wire. (He's fine.)
page 8
But here's the thing about Toby — laughing never stopped him from checking.
He checked every clamp once. He checked every clamp twice.
Good. And. Squozed.
page 9
CLICK! All down Maple Street, the porch lights woke up.
The toast popped. The cartoons came back.
A kid in a window waved at Toby — and Toby waved right back.
page 10
And from that day on, nobody on the crew ever said "squeezed" again.
Why would they? Squozed was funnier.
page 11
Because Toby knows the secret: hard work goes better with a laugh —
and a good laugh is like good light.
It reaches every house on the street.
page 12 · the end (for now)
Toby's Toolbelt Dictionary
- squozed (verb)
- What happens to a clamp when you squeeze it exactly right. Past tense: squoze. Extra credit: squozen.
- lineman (noun)
- The person who climbs up so your lights come on. Often mustached. Always checking.
- the bucket (noun)
- A lineman's office. Corner view. No chairs.
- Tittlepup (proper noun)
- Chief Supervisor. Accepts payment in biscuits. Has never once read the clipboard.
back matter · part one
Toby's Safety Corner
(from the real lineman who inspired all this)
- If a line is ever on the ground, it is not a jump rope. Stay far away and tell a grown-up.
- Check it once, check it twice — shoes tied, helmet on, then go.
- Grown-up jobs have grown-up tools. Watch, ask, learn — don't grab.
- Take care of your crew, and your crew takes care of you.
back matter · part two — see you in episode 102
Spot the Spidey: Dad's favorite superhero was Spider-Man — by far. So somewhere in this episode (and in every episode), one small spider is hiding. Happy hunting. (Our spider is a humble homage, and legally speaking, just a spider.)
Read the shooting script — Ep. 101 "SQUOZED!" (draft zero)
TOBY THE LINEMAN — Ep. 101 "SQUOZED!"
COLD OPEN
EXT. MAPLE STREET — MORNING AFTER A STORM
A bucket truck idles under a leaning pole. BIRDS resettle on the one wire that still has its dignity. TOBY (sixty-something forever, mustache like a push broom, hard hat older than the truck) rides the bucket up. TITTLEPUP sits in the driver's seat wearing a tiny hard hat, holding a clipboard he cannot read.
Big Pete
(from the ground)
How's she lookin', Tobe?
Toby
Like my hair after your driving.
Big Pete
That bad, huh.
Toby
(inspecting the line)
New clamps. Gotta crimp 'em.
Big Pete
Well make sure they're good and SQUOZED!
Beat. The birds look at each other. Somewhere, a leaf stops mid-fall.
Toby
...Squozed.
Big Pete
Squozed. Past tense of squeeze. Everybody knows that.
Toby
(to the birds)
Everybody knows that.
The birds nod. They did not know that.
Toby
(laughing so hard the bucket sways gently)
Pete, I've been doing this thirty years, and that is the finest word ever spoke on a job site.
Big Pete
(proud)
I got more.
Toby
Save 'em for sweeps week. (then, tapping his crimper, suddenly all business) But hey — laughing's free. Checking's mandatory.
He crimps. Checks it once. Checks it twice.
Toby (cont'd)
There. Good... and squozed.
SMASH CUT TO:
Porch lights popping on down Maple Street like applause.
Kid
(at a window)
MOM! THE CARTOONS CAME BACK!
Toby
(tips hard hat)
That's the lineman way.
TITTLEPUP barks once and stamps the clipboard with a paw print.
MAIN TITLES.
Draft zero — based on hearsay. Todd is collecting sworn testimony from the man himself, and this scene will be corrected accordingly. The word, however, is non-negotiable: squozed.
Meet the Crew
Toby
Mustache like a push broom, heart like a porch light. Keeps the lights on, the crew safe, and the jokes rolling. Checks everything twice — including the jokes.
Tittlepup
Rides in the truck. Holds the clipboard. Cannot read the clipboard. Paid in biscuits and fully worth it. His mama named him, and his mama was right: here comes trouble.
Big Pete
Drives the truck and improves the English language without warning. Inventor of "squozed." He has more. Heaven help us, he has more.
Ray
Jack's good buddy on the crew. Coolest head on the line — when everything's sparking, Ray isn't. Says little, fixes much, has never once lost the sunglasses.
Vickie-Line
The little bird who checks on everybody. Gets from A to Z before you finish saying A. Her mama called her Vickie-Line — so did Jack, sometimes. Nothing happens on this street without her knowing, and nobody goes unwatched-over.
Keith-A-Roo
Keith-A-Rooney, if he's in trouble. Part cat, part tiger, all climb. Scales anything, lands on his feet, files zero reports. If something's up on the roof, it's him. If something's down off the roof — also him.
Ming
Tri-color, which means triple authority. Holds down the home office. Has never once visited a job site; her approval is still required on everything.
The Birds
Sit on the wires. See everything. Critics, mostly. One of them fell off in Episode One. (He's fine.)
More crew arriving as the discovery files roll in. (rumored: a buddy named Drake, and a spirit animal named Dale)
The Lineman Way
Every episode teaches one. Dad lived all four.
Safety first. Always.
Check it once, check it twice. Gloves on, lid on, then up you go.
Laugh together, never at.
The best crews run on coffee and giggles. Big Pete laughed loudest of all.
Take care of your crew.
Everybody gets home for dinner. That's the whole job, really.
The wrong word can be exactly right.
"Squozed" isn't in the dictionary. It's in ours.
The Real Toby
(artist's rendering · mustache approximate)
Toby is made up. The man who inspired him is not.
Jack Terry Taubin was born November 30, 1946, in Pennsylvania, and spent his career with Florida Power & Light, stationed out of Hialeah — decades of Miami storms, sunrises, and service calls. He kept the lights on for millions of strangers, and the laughs rolling for everyone lucky enough to share a truck with him.
Home was Miami: Vickie — "Vickie-Line," like her mama said — and the boys, Todd ("here comes trouble") and Keith-A-Roo (the tiger), a tri-color cat named Ming, sunflowers taller than the fence, palm trees, and a green 1951 Chevy parked out back, washed more often than the dishes.
He took the job seriously, and himself — not so much. Loyal. Safe. Professional. The guy who looked after everyone and everything, first one up the pole and the last one to ever leave a buddy behind.
And he always dreamed of writing children's stories about the life lessons of the line. So here they are.
Welcome to his dream.
est. 1946 · retired — but the stories aren't
The Builder
(Dad never finished that one. Still waiting.)
Hi — I'm Todd. Son of a lineman.
I grew up watching my dad leave before sunrise in a truck full of tools and come home full of stories — the kind where everybody's laughing before he even gets to the ending.
For years, he talked about writing kids' books about what the line taught him: work safe, work hard, take care of your people, and never miss a chance to laugh. He called the character Toby the Lineman. Then he kept right on taking care of everyone else, the way he always does, and the books stayed a dream.
He kept the lights on. I'm keeping the stories on. This site, this series, the pup with the clipboard, every hidden spider — that's his dream, built by his son. Fun, and funnier. Just like he ordered.
Love you, Dad. — Todd